How to Troubleshoot Common Garage Door Opener Issues
If your garage door opener suddenly stops functioning correctly, resolving the issue can be a concern and a hassle. However, depending on what is causing the problem, the solution can often be quite straightforward. Troubleshooting often involves visually checking for broken parts and ensuring that all connections are tight and secure.
Common Garage Door Opener Issues
When diagnosing a problem with your garage door opener, it can be difficult to determine the cause, especially when there are several possibilities. Once you’ve noticed that the door is not opening or closing properly, the remote is not working, or the opener isn’t responding to commands sent from the remote or wall control. It’s time to figure out what could be causing this malfunction.
Why Your Garage Door Opener Wall Switch May Not be Working
Don’t panic just yet if you’re trying to open the garage door from inside and hear nothing but silence when you push the wall switch. Here are some reasons your switch may not be working:
Locked Door
If you’ve found yourself in the situation of your garage door not responding when you press the switch, the door may be actually locked. Many modern garage doors have a two-button setup – one for opening and closing and another for locking, which can sometimes be pushed inadvertently. It may seem strange, but if someone in the busy household has accidentally locked your garage door switch, the door won’t respond to it anymore until it’s unlocked again.
Unplugged Monitor
Checking if the motor is unplugged might sound too simple, but it can easily be the cause of a stalled garage door. The motor is located near the ceiling at the end of the chain, making it one of the first things to check. If you find that it’s not plugged into its socket, all you need to do is plug it back in and you should be good to go.
Tripping Circuit Breaker
If you’re having trouble getting your garage door to open, the other symptoms to watch out for are having trouble turning on the lights or electric appliances in the garage too. It might be that the circuit breaker is tripping or a fuse has burned out. To start fixing it, try resetting the circuit breaker by screening through your electrical box and checking if a breaker switch is in the flipped-off position. If all else fails, seek help from a qualified electrician, as dealing with electricity can be highly dangerous without proper precautions and knowledge.
Burnt Out Motor
When you’ve explored all possible remedies for your garage door opener and none have worked, it usually points to a burnt-out motor. This isn’t easy to repair on your own, so it’s time to consider calling in a professional. On speaking with them, they can assess the state of your unit and diagnose if the motor truly is the source of trouble. Then they can determine if it needs mending or replacing and do the necessary repairs for you.
Why Your Keypad May Not be Working
If you cannot open your garage door with the keypad on your home, it’s a sure sign of something amiss. The issue could stem from a variety of sources, ranging from the following:
Locked Door
Opening a garage door with the keypad can often be tricky. If you’re having issues, several factors may be in play. You may find that the correct code just isn’t being accepted despite how sure you feel about your numbers. First, check that the electronic switch near your door is not engaged. Pushing it will usually unlock if it’s on the wrong setting, then try entering your code again. If this doesn’t work, it may be time to call a professional!
Batteries are Dead
Keypads are often an overlooked piece of technology – we rely on them for our security but rarely think about their power source. Many people assume keypads must be plugged into the wall, just like most other technology, but surprisingly, they are powered by a battery! This can be easy to forget, resulting in hours wasted on troubleshooting when all that’s needed is battery replacement.
You Need to Reprogram Keypads
If your garage door opener isn’t recognizing the code you input on the keypad, it might be time to reprogram your opener’s code. This process is relatively straightforward and involves pressing a “learn” button of some kind on the motor before entering your desired code on the keypad. You can check your manual for the exact details. Once this is done, the motor should recognize and open up with the new code that you have chosen.
Why Your Garage Door May Not be Closing All the Way
If your garage door opens without fail but fails to shut completely, it may have one of four potential causes:
Check Nothing is Blocking the Electronic Sensors
Ensuring that nothing is blocking the field of vision between the electronic sensors of your garage door is critical. Uninterrupted sight lines allow the sensors to detect any objects in its way and prompt the door to open and close safely. If you find debris such as leaves or small objects frequently clogging up your sensors, vibration from the door in its track may be causing the brackets holding the sensors to become loose.
Try Adjusting the Close-Limit Switch
Your garage door relies on set-limit switches to safely open and close, and things can go very wrong when those switches are set wrong. The limit switch helps your motor understand when to stop running — both while opening the door and closing it. If your close-limit switch is not adjusted correctly, it can prevent the door from closing all the way and cause the opener to pull back up or reverse instead of lowering like you expect it to.
Try Adjusting or Realigning Safety Sensors
Automatic garage doors are a serious safety hazard if not maintained properly. A frequent maintenance issue is when the safety sensors need adjustment or realignment. The cause of misalignment can be as small as something blocking the sightline of the electronic eyes situated near the bottom of both sides of the door track or even if the brackets containing these eyes have been moved out of physical alignment. In this case, depending on how bad the misalignment is, the door may stop or reverse completely and displays warning lights to indicate there is an issue.
Could be Rusted or Damaged Rollers
Less commonly than worn springs or openers, rusted or damaged rollers can bind the door with movement. Fortunately, this problem can be corrected by just replacing the rollers or lubricating them with silicone spray; however, if the tracks themselves have shifted or something has caused them to bend, then more complex repairs may need to be done on the tracks themselves in order to maintain smooth operation of the door.
Hung-Rite Garage Doors are Your Garage Door Opener Experts
If you’ve ever been frustrated with a malfunctioning garage door opener, then you know the importance of having one that works properly at all times. That’s where Hung Rite Garage Doors comes in! Our professional garage door opener repair services mean we can come to your home or business and fix garage door issues quickly. Don’t let a minor malfunction become an ongoing problem – contact us today and get back to using your garage without any headaches.
Here are the related garage door services we offer:
- Broken garage door spring repair
- Garage door installation services
- Garage door repair services
- Commercial garage door and residential garage door services
- Emergency garage door services are available 24/7
- Garage door replacement
Visit our About Us page for more information about our company!